North Texas builders scrambled to meet buyer demand in the first three months of 2107, starting the most houses in a single quarter since 2007.

During the 12 months ending with March, Dallas-Fort Worth homebuilders started more than 30,500 houses - the strongest building performance since the Great Recession.

"This represents the highest level of annual construction activity since fourth quarter 2007," said Ted Wilson, principal with Dallas-based housing analyst Residential Strategies. "Reports from builders indicate that Spring 2017 has produced another solid period of home sales -- even with higher home prices and mortgage rates."

First quarter home starts were up 16 percent from the same period in 2016.

And builders sold an estimated 7,519 homes so far this year - about a 15 percent gain from year-ago totals.

"Most of the production builders are entering the summer months with solid backlogs of orders," Wilsons said. "This is especially prevalent for those builders that focus on the more affordable price points.

"The homebuilding industry has become creative in its efforts to produce affordable units in an environment where there is massive land, lot and construction labor inflation."

With builders trying to shift their production to more affordable houses, the median price of new homes being built in D-FW actually declined slightly in the first quarter.

"In the fourth quarter it was $350,000 and now its down to $343,000," Wilson said.

That's still about $100,000 more than what it costs to purchase a mid-priced preowned home in North Texas.

Wilson said that starts and sales of houses priced at $400,000 and up are moderating.

"The builders are migrating to the lower price points," he said. "For the new home builders it's very difficult for them to deliver a new home much under $200,000."

High home costs have pushed new housing out of the reach of most D-FW residents.

"The median household income in D-FW is around $72,000," Wilson said. "Only about 18 percent of the new homes being built are affordable to that household."

Migration of higher paying jobs and workers to North Texas in the last few years has kept builders rushing to provide houses.

"With all the immigration of jobs over the last six years, the number of households that make over $100,000 has increased by 192,000 in D-FW," Wilson said. "That's singlehandedly holding up the new home market.